The First Wolf

 

 (imdb)

WEREWOLF OF LONDON-1935-An English botanist Wilfred Glendon (Henry Hull) is bitten by a werewolf while searching for a rare plant in Tibet. Back in London his unhappy wife Lisa (Valerie Hobson; the same year as BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN) is courted by an American (Lester Matthews; in THE RAVEN the same year). Glendon is visited by Dr. Yogami (Warner Oland; well into the Charlie Chan series), who tells him of two cases of “werewolfery” in London. It seems Yogami is the werewolf that bit the Glendon in Tibet. When his hand turns hairy Glendon uses the plant, Moonlight Bloom to stop the transformation but he's warned by Yogami that the plant is not a cure but a temporary antidote. When Yogami steals another plant, the doc turns into a scary wolf man and goes hunting for the thing he loves the most. He almost kills his wife's aunt (Spring Byington) but kills a prostitute instead. Later he goes after the missus and is shot by the police inspector. 

WEREWOLF OF LONDON is a classic 1930's horror film from Universal pictures. The wolf man himself (Jack P. Pierce's make-up though he's uncredited) is quite scary even when he's wearing a hat and coat and there's a lot of spooky nighttime scenes. Director Stuart Walker only made 12 movies. Others include GREAT EXPECTATIONS (1934) (also with Henry Hull) and THE MYSTERY OF EDWARD DROOD (also 1935). He also did work on Paramount's “Bulldog Drummond” series around this time too.

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Master of The World

MASTER OF THE WORLD-1961-This starts off with a kind of out of place montage of the various ill fated contraptions man has devised to conquer the air.

 In Morgantown, Pennsylvania there seems to be an earthquake followed by a disembodied voice issuing a warning. A government agent Strock (Charles Bronson) arrives at the home of Prof. Prudent (Henry Hull) just in time to hear him and his future son in law Phillip (David Frankham) locked in a heated argument as to where a propeller must go on their new balloon. Strock says the government would like to use the new balloon he and Phillip have designed to investigate the earthquake and voice that seem to emulate from a nearby mountain (too tall to climb). You know trouble is brewing when they bring along Prudent's daughter Dorothy (Mary Webster). No sooner do they get near the mountain than a rocket deflates their balloon and they crash. They are taken aboard the flying ship Albatross, the creation of Robor (Vincent Price) a genius inventor who wants to eradicate war with an ultimatum: “Disarm or perish”. Friction builds between Strock and Phillip as Phillip is kind of a pompous macho man who thinks Strock is a coward and a supporter of Robor's philosophy. 

After an escape plan fails (Strock rats them out to save them) Robor hangs Phillip and Strock in mid-air by a rope. Later Robur sees Strock as a threat but instead of killing the agent he'd rather Strock join him. Strock rejects his offer but agrees not to interfere in Robur's plans. When the British navy tries to destroy the Albatross bombs decimate the fleet. Robur flies all over the globe intend on destroying the armies of the world and put an end to war. Finally the four decide the only way to go is that they must destroy the deadly flying ship. Eventually Robur's mania leads to his own destruction. An explosion created by Strock puts the nail in the Albatross' coffin. Rather than abandon ship his crew stays by his side as the flying ship crashes into the sea. Vito Scotti's comedic scenes as the ship's cook seem out of place.

MASTER OF THE WORLD was the biggest budgeted film for AIP at the time. It was written by Richard Matheson and adapted from two novels by Jules Verne. Veteran filmmaker William Whitney was working mainly in TV at the time but also made the seldom seen low budget crime drama THE CAT BURGLAR the same year. Price is good as usual as the obsessed Robur who manages to be more sympathetic than evil. Henry Hull (nearing the end of his long career) is a hoot as the curmudgeonly Prudent. Bronson and the other leads are ok.

Personal note: Actor Gordon Jones who appeared as "Mike the cop" on The Abbott & Costello show in the early '50's is featured in an unbilled role at the begining of the picture.

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Watching The Detective!

NICK CARTER-MASTER DETECTIVE-1939-In his first starring role Walter Pidgeon plays Nick Carter, a NYC detective. He's hired by the owner of a defense plant (Addison Richards ) where a new kind of plane is being tested to prevent anymore sabotage by foreign agents. Henry Hull plays the scientist who invented it. After he's killed Carter suspects a nurse (Rita Johnson) but it's really the seemingly nice guy doctor (Stanley Ridges. who was in BLACK FRIDAY with Karloff &Lugosi the next year).

Martin Kosleck and Milburn Stone are spies who pretend to be injured and smuggle out microfilm. Henry Victor (the strong man in FREAKS) is the head of the spy ring. Donald Meek plays a comical private eye/bee keeper who shows up at various times to try and help. The climax takes place at sea with Carter in an aerial duel with the spies' boat. Sterling Holloway and Frank Faylen have small roles.

There's nothing special about this little mystery but it moves along quickly. In fact it almost seems like a an overlong TV show. Oh wait, I forgot TV hadn't been invented in 1939!

The first Nick Carter story appeared as a "dime store" novel in 1886! The persona of Carter was revised several times (like becoming more of a Pulp hero in the early '30's to compete with THE SHADOW and DOC SAVAGE). Several silent films made in France first featured the detective.

After an MGM trilogy Columbia made a serial featuring Nick's son Chick! The character was later again revived in for two movies featuring Eddie Constantine in the lead role. Robert Conrad played him in a made for TV movie in 1972. A radio series ran from 1943 to 1955.

NCMD was only the second full length feature for French born director Jacques Tourneur who in 1942 would direct the classic CAT PEOPLE.

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